To the past I do not know
by crystalfox127
Summary: Waking up and realizing you're not where you're supposed to be isn't a fun experience. Waking up and realizing you're not WHO you're supposed to be is even worse. Karin wakes up in the body of none other than Haruno Sakura. With the real Sakura now acting as Inner and Karin acting as Sakura, can they save the future from all the trouble that is sure to come? Time-travel!
1. Prologue

**_Okay, to anyone who reads my other stories: I know I should be updating them, but I have caught the infamous writers block disease. I'm having trouble continuing those stories, so I decided to get started on a new one. Yeah, probably not the best idea, but I might get some ideas for my other stories._**

**_I DON'T OWN NARUTO! Get it? Got it? No? TOO BAD! :-D_**

_**Prologue**_

Karin sat up in her bed with a small yawn. She was still tired, but she knew she still had a job to do – escaping from Konoha's prison. With the war that was raging on she doubted anyone would even notice her absence, much less care about it. She took a deep breath to properly wake herself up before standing up and stretching her muscles. For the first time that morning she opened her eyes to look at her surroundings. No prison cell. No guards.

Where was she? Karin slowly looked around in the pink room. Her eyes fell on a small female figure. She vaguely remembered her from somewhere…..

The memory hit her like a ton of bricks. How could she forget the girl that saved her life when Sasuke tried to kill her? The girl who, in spite of loving Sasuke with all her heart, had refused to follow his order to kill Karin. What was her name again? Saki? Saku…Sak…Sakura! That was it! Sakura looked extremely different. She looked a lot younger, a mere child with round cheeks and big eyes.

Karin raised her hand to wave at the girl, but the girl mirrored her actions. Karin let her hand fall back down and hang limply by her side, watching as the girl once again copied her movement with exact timing. Was she in some kind of genjutsu? Was this just a trick? Karin raised her hands into the tiger seal before moving into the ram seal. "Release!" she whispered quietly as she tried to focus on finding any intruding chakra in her system that might be causing the genjutsu.

Nothing! No foreign cakra. So, this wasn't an illusion, but what was it? She walked closer to the girl, noticing she was walking closer as well. Karin stopped dead in her tracks. Why was she so stupid that she hadn't noticed before?! She had been looking in a mirror the whole time! Karin couldn't help it, she facepalmed. 'Beaten by a mirror.' she thought sourly. Then something finally clicked.

It was a **mirror**!

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!"


	2. Chapter 1

**I don't own Naruto! **

**I'm not sure if the part about Karin's team is true but I'm just going to pretend it is.**

_**Chapter 1**_

Karin stared wide-eyed at her reflection. **Her reflection** in the **mirror**! She looked just like Sakura! 'What is going on?!' she wondered silently to herself before a voice broke her from her thoughts. "Sakura? Are you okay, sweety?" the voice of a woman, presumably Sakura's mother, called from outside her room. "Y-yeah! I'm fine!" she called back unsurely, noting that her voice sounded like Sakura's too. "Well then, get ready! You don't want to be late for your exam, now do you?" the woman called back. "Okay!" she called back after a short pause. What exam was she taking? Karin looked back down at her chibi-fied body. It probably wasn't the chunin exams, was it?. Genin exams maybe? She sighed and slumped her shoulders. There was no point in worrying about it now, she'd have plenty of time for that later. Right now she just needed to play along with Sakura's life and act as inconspicuous as possible. Karin strolled over to the closet and searched for something to wear, but only found some uncomfortable red dresses. She had to admit though, the dresses were rather pretty. She looked around for something else, anything else, but couldn't find anything. "Okay, screw inconspicuous. I'm going shopping for better clothes when I get back." she muttered to herself as she slipped into one of the dresses… Okay, maybe they weren't **that** uncomfortable, but she still needed moving space…..which those dresses **didn't** offer. She was still going to get her some new clothes later, when she was done with this exam.

After she had finished getting dressed, she brushed her teeth and hair. Her new hair was extremely annoying. A few strands would keep falling into her face, not that she minded that. She did, however, mind that the long strands kept falling in front of her eyes, obscuring her vision. Karin huffed in annoyance before grabbing a kunai from the pouch that she had already secured around her waist.

"_What are you doing?!"_ a familiar voice hissed.

"Cutting my hair, what does it look like?" she asked out loud, looking around for the disembodied voice that was talking to, and now scaring the shiz out of her. Random voices didn't just talk to you out of nowhere!

"_Don't cut my hair, I like it like this…well, maybe cutting it shorter wouldn't be such a bad idea."_

"Wait, your hair?" Karin felt dread creep into her heart.

"_YES!"_

"Sakura?" she asked carefully, feeling just a bit scared. Not that she'd ever admit it though.

"_Correct." _The voice answered back calmly, as if this was something that happened every day.

"Why am I in your body?! How did this happen?" Questions spilled from Karin's mouth at an insane rate. She didn't care about being polite right now, even if the other did save her life. She wanted answers and she wanted them now!

"_Guess I should explain it, huh?"_ she said. Karin could see Sakura in her head, like when using her imagination to picture something, but the image of Sakura was much clearer.

"_I used a jutsu. I was searching through the rubble after Madara and Sasuke's attack on the village, looking for anyone that might have survived or might have needed help…"_

_**Sakura pushed some more chakra into her arms as she lifted yet another piece of debris from a small pile of bodies. It was a rather large piece of wall from one of the buildings that had collapsed during all the carnage of the battle. Once she had lifted it she let her eyes travel over the bodies. They were obviously dead before the piece of crumbled wall fell on them. One of the bodies was decapitated, by a sword she guessed. Another had a deep cut all the way from the sternum to below the stomach – gutted like a fish.**_

"_**No survivors…." she muttered as she looked over all the corpses that littered the street. Bodies of women and small children, of ninjas and civilians alike lay scattered all around her, making her stomach churn with an intense hatred for the ones responsible. For the boy she once claimed to love. Sakura threw the giant piece of junk away from the bodies. Some of the others had stab-wounds and slashes all over their bodies while others had severe burns that made them almost completely unrecognisable. They were going to need to use dental records to identify most of them. She clenched her fists tightly as she looked over the streets filled with death and desruction. 'Sasuke, this is all your fault!' she screamed in her head, memories of all her dead friends filled her , Sai, Kakashi… She took a shaky breath, before releasing it slowly, along with all the tension building between her shoulders. She shook her head before slowly trudging onward, once again looking for anyone that might still be alive and in need of medical attention. She lifted another large piece of debris and threw it out of her way, but to her surprise there were no bodies underneath, just a large pile of dirt and junk. Sakura stared at the pile for a few short moments before starting to dig through it. She had no idea why she was doing it, but her gut as telling her to search through the pile for…something. Listening to her gut seemed to pay off and after four minutes of digging she held a small, old-looking scroll in her hands. Sakura looked around for anyone else in the area. Once she was sure that there was no one else she gingerly opened the scroll. **_

'_**Instructions for a jutsu?' Sakura wondered as she read over the instructions very carefully. 'I should be able to pull it off.' Sakura once again checked for anyone that might see her before placing he opened scroll on the ground and sitting down cross-legged in front of it. She took a deep breath to try and focus her mind and started with the series of handseals. Once finished her hands were in the position of the tiger seal, but to her utter disappointment nothing else happened. Her chakra was just completely drained. Sakura sighed heavily as she took a chakra pill from her pack and swallowed the bland-tasting drug. She wasn't completely sure what she was expecting. She just felt the…urge to do it. She quickly dragged herself back onto her feet and prepared to start running again. Her vision was starting to blur and her head was pounding. Sakura tried to reach out for something to lean on, but soon enough she found herself face first in the dirt. She felt her body shake and convulse for an unknown reason. Her breathing became ragged as darkness started to claim her vision. She heard someone call her name. It sounded almost like Naruto to her, but she knew it was impossible. She had seen him get impaled straight through the chest by Sasuke's sword. She had heard his last words to her – an apology for not keeping his promise. She had felt his pulse diminish before disappearing completely beneath her hand as she tried to heal the severe wound.**_

_**She felt the darkness swallow her and at long last the pain that was coursing through her whole body stated to slowly fade away until only a dull ache was left.**_

"That's pretty rough." Karin gulped audibly as the images from Sakura's memory started fading out of her mind. She had seen some nasty stuff before in her life, but this had just felt too real. The image of all those corpses was never going to leave her, was it?

"_Yeah, and it's going to happen again if we don't do something."_ Sakura told her seriously.

"So you want me to prevent this all from happening? You want me to stop Sasuke for you?"

"_Yes, I do. I really, __**really**__ do. I don't want to see everyone I love die again; I don't think I could bear it."_

"…I see…"

"_Well?"_

"I don't really want to have anything to do with that prick. I don't even want to see him, much less _help_ him. I don't even get why I had to be the one to magically reappear in your body. Why not someone else?! Why not your best friend or something like that? You're a nice girl, I'm sure you have plenty of friends to ask! Why me of all people?"

"_Because you're the only other highly skilled medic I know, okay! Ino is a good medic and all, but her team is too dependent on her existence in this timeline!"_

"So now I don't even _exist_ in this timeline?! Oh, just _great_. Absolutely _perfect_, Pinkie! That's just what I wanted to hear! I no longer exist! _Lovely!_"

"_Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realise you had __**such**__ an important meaning to your existence!"_

"Are you saying my existence was meaningless!"

"_Well, tell me then! What __**amazing**__ goals did you have? What were you going to accomplish, huh? What __**difference**__ did your life make?"_

"I …I was-"

"_Useless. You served no purpose to your genin team, so they abandoned you in the forest. You were __**slowing them down**__. They wanted a scroll so badly, but there wasn't any way for them to get it because you were always in the way. So they left you with your team's scroll and told you to protect it. And then you got attacked by a __**bear**__ and you couldn't even __**defend**__ yourself! No, Sasuke had to come and __**save you**__! You were __**useless**__ when it __**mattered**__!" _

"Then why the _hell_ ask me to help you?! Why? If I was so useless before, what makes you think I'll be any different now?! Why did you ask some useless person to help you then!" Karin yelled, not caring who heard her.

"…because we're in the same boat. I went through your memories; I know you know you were useless. I also know you tried to change that." Sakura said gently, not wanting to anger the other again.

"Well obviously there's a difference between _trying_ and _succeeding_." Karin said bitterly.

"_I know. During those exact same chunin exams I was just as useless as you were and I tried __**desperately**__ to change that because my teammates were in danger. I tried and failed, because only then did I realise that strength and power doesn't come overnight. You have to __**work**__ for it. Before Sasuke left…I never trained or worked hard on my skills. I thought my smarts would get me through everything. I was wrong. I wasn't capable of keeping my team safe. I wasn't focussing on my training back then, only on trying to impress Sasuke. I spent hours and hours on trying to look my best and conditioning my hair so he would notice me. I never trained or practiced my jutsu – I was so __**distracted **__with a __**boy **__that I didn't care about that."_

"…so? Why should I care?" Karin asked softly.

"_Because…this is a chance for both of us to make things right. We can be useful for once. We can be strong. We already know what's going to happen in the future and we can __**change**__ it. There is __**so**__**much time**__ to change it!"_

"Well who said I wanted to be useful and strong? Those things only make you a bigger target for people like Orochimaru! Maybe I wanted to be weak!"

"_You're so stubborn! I know you never wanted to be weak and according to your memories, Orochimaru came after you anyway because of your chakra-tracking ability. Please! I'm begging you, just help me. Just help me save this village…please…"_

"Okay, okay! ...Fine, I'll do it." Karin said reluctantly. "But if I'm doing it, I'm doing it my way."

Karin said with a small as she bent over forward and started cutting her now-pink hair, letting the pink curls fall in a small heap on the floor.

"_Why you little-"_

She ruffled her hair a bit to get rid of the last loose strands before standing back upright and smoothing her hair down slightly. Her hair wasn't as spikey as before and it was much softer now as well. She had only cut the strands that would bother her, letting the rest frame her face. Something still didn't completely look right, though.

Karin heard footsteps coming closer to her room. "Sakura, are you ready yet?" Sakura's mother asked as she entered the room, only to gasp. "What happened to your hair?!" asked. The pink-haired woman sighed angrily before grabbing the brush and taking a ribbon off of the night stand. "Honestly, what's gotten into you? Trying to cut your hair on your own…" she scolded as she started brushing Karin's hair. Karin stood completely still, frozen on the spot. It had been a while since someone brushed her hair. Her own mother had never been particularly interested in such things.

Karin watched in the mirror as the woman carefully put the ribbon in her now-pink hair. "There you go. No need to cut your hair, see?" the woman smiled gently as she placed her hands on Karin's shoulders. Karin simply nodded and tried to smile back at the woman. "Now, time for breakfast!" the woman declared happily as she started to lightly push her daughter, now actually Karin, out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 2

**I don't own Naruto! At all! And sadly…I never will…*sigh***

**I just want a few more reviews. That's why I'm going to wait until I get two more reviews before releasing the next chapter. **

**Also, if this chapter seems a bit dull, I apologise. **

_**Chapter 2**_

After practically inhaling her breakfast, since it was the first decent meal she had eaten in a very long time, Karin rushed out of the house after giving her mo- _Sakura's_ mother a goodbye hug and a quick 'See you after I pass!'

The moment she passed through the door she saw flashes of walking along a road, meeting up with a blonde-haired girl and racing her to a building with many other children. Karin concluded that she still had Sakura's memories of the way to the academy and that the blonde girl was a friend of Sakura's.

"_She was my friend, you're right."_ Sakura stated. Karin jumped at suddenly hearing Sakura's voice fill up her head.

'**Pinkie, please don't scare me like that!'** she thought back to her pink-haired companion, whose image was becoming more and more clear in her mind_ "Sorry, sorry!" _the original pinkette apologised.

'**Anyway, what do you mean she ****was**** your friend?'** She had to focus on thinking the words instead of saying them, since she had a feeling people would label her as 'insane' if they saw her talk to herself.

"_Well, long story short: we were best friends when we were younger, after she helped me when I got bullied."_

'**Yeah, you do seem like the type to get bullied.'**

"_SHUT IT!"_

'**Uh, right, sorry.' **Karin said hastily, mentally cowering in fear.

"_As I was saying__: we were best friends but then…both of us realised that we liked, well…Sasuke."_

'**No shocker there! Don't sound so embarrassed, Pinkie. I fell for the cold-hearted bastard too, you know.'**

"_Yeah, but still… I broke off our friendship just so I'd have a chance to be with Sasuke."_

'**Oh…that seems a bit….yeah, okay, moving on.'**

"_Ever since then we've been rivals. I admit, Ino kicked my butt at anything that didn't require studying. She even ended up being 'Top kunoichi' while Sasuke was the 'Top rookie' of our year."_

'**Wow, that's pretty impressive. So I'll have to train hard to beat her, huh?'**

"_W-what do you mean? I want her to be my friend again! Or your friend…whatever…"_

'**Look, I'm not going to continue being her rival for Sasuke , but I'm pretty competitive and I will not lose to her as a kunoichi! Fighting over a boy, especially that insensitive prick, is just a bit stupid in my opinion.'**

"_You're still __**really**__ mad at him, aren't you?"_

'**Well, he ****did**** try to ****kill**** me, so…yes, I am.'**

"_We're going to change him, right? Keep him from leaving Konoha?_" Karin could hear the bit of desperation in her voice. The girl still wanted to save him? He had tried to kill her, or Pete's sake!

Karin somehow still understood, even if she didn't want to. Sakura didn't want the boy she cared for so dearly to slip away into the darkness again. Karin supposed there was nothing wrong with that. It would probably keep many other innocent people from losing their lives at Sasuke's hands. That was something she could live with.

'**Fine, I'll help. But I'm only doing this for all those idiots that lost their lives to the bas- I mean, to Sasuke.'**

With that the conversation was ended as Karin passed the flower shop and headed directly to the academy. No need to wait for this blonde girl if she wasn't going to fight with her anymore. She was pretty impressed to see that Konoha's academy was huge. Nothing like the pathetic one-classroom building they had in her village before it was destroyed.

The village was surprisingly clean and the beauty of some of plants and trees she passed succeeded in leaving Karin breathless. She already saw a few flowers that she thought would make a great perfume. Konoha had so much life and beauty and peace to offer, why would Sasuke ever want to leave here? And to live almost permanently underground, only do night missions and be locked inside a dark, damp room that smelled like blood and sweat all day? Karin thought that was just nuts. She remembered her visit here during the chunin exams, even then she'd loved everything about Konoha. Admittedly, she did think the people were a bit odd. They were so welcoming and…nice. She had found that she liked these nice people a lot more than the bitter ones back home.

She finally reached her class, stepped in quietly like a normal person and took a seat near the front of the classroom. Very few people actually noticed her, some only nodding or waving. Karin let a yawn pass her lips before lying down on her arms and resting her eyes. Soon enough she was fast asleep...

"_**NARUTO! MOVE YOUR ASS! I WANT TO SIT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF YOU!" Sakura yelled loudly at poor, confused little Naruto while pointing at the seat next to him. "Huh?!" the blonde looked a bit confused until he turned to the other side and saw none other than Uchiha Sasuke sitting only one seat away. He glared at the raven-haired boy and Sakura suddenly wanted to strangle the blonde loser for glaring like that at **_**her**_** Sasuke. 'Stupid Naruto!' Sakura felt her patience wear thin with the blonde dunce…well, other blonde dunce.**_

_**She swallowed whatever she was going to say/yell at Naruto as soon as the raven turned to look at Naruto. 'So cool!' she thought with a smile as she stared at the handsome Uchiha. "What?" the dark-haired boy questioned the stupid blonde that was glaring at him. Sasuke's hands were folded in front of his face, almost as if he was contemplating something, while his elbows rested on the wooden table. "What do you mean 'what'?!" the blonde yelled at him. Sakura, having had enough of this and wanting Sasuke's attention, pushed Naruto forward until he was almost falling out of his chair. "AH!" the boy called out in shock and a bit of pain, but Sakura simply ignored him, only keeping her eyes focussed on Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun! Can I sit next to you?" she asked sweetly while putting on her cutest smile for the handsome boy.**_

_**Sakura didn't wait for an answer as she immediately moved around Naruto and quickly stole the spot before any of the other girls could even think about it. She kept smiling in Sasuke's direction and even started leaning a bit closer to him, but he kept ignoring her. Sakura felt her cheeks heat up as a pink blush settled itself on her cheeks. 'Today I'm going to get Sasuke-kun.' She thought to herself as she once again glanced at the boy. Inner Sakura smiled widely in determination. 'AND STEAL HIS FIRST KISS!' she added with a lot of enthusiasm. **_

_**Suddenly Naruto jumped onto the desk, crouching right in front of Sasuke with their faces mere centimeters apart. A glaring match ensued and Sakura felt the anger bubble through her whole body. "NARUTO! LEAVE SASUKE-KUN ALONE!" she yelled while fiercely glaring at the blonde idiot. "Move it!" Naruto told the handsome Uchiha angrily, but when the other boy made no effort to respond, he growled at the raven.**_

"_**KICK HIS ASS, SASUKE-KUN!" a bunch of female voices cheered from behind Sakura, who was fuming at the blonde for glaring at **_**her**_** Sasuke. "No way! Really?" a boy with a spikey ponytail that sat right in front of Sasuke and Naruto suddenly caught Sakura's attention. The boy tried to lean over backwards and rest his elbow on Sasuke's desk, but ended up accidently pushing Naruto forward. "HUH?" Naruto cried out in shock as he started falling forward. He boy with the spikey ponytail turned around. "Oops, sorry about that!" he said hastily.**_

"_**Wha…" Sakura stared at the scene in horror as Naruto and Sasuke's lips connected. She started trembling with rage as a little part of herself died on the inside at seeig the blonde steal **_**her**_** Sasuke's first kiss. Sasuke and Naruto pulled away from each other almost immediately. "Naruto, you moron! I'm going to kill you!" Sasuke yelled as both he and Naruto started to gag. "YUCK! MY MOUTH IS ROTTING!" Naruto cried out loudly. As if sensing their killing intent, Naruto turned around to find all of the fangirls glaring at him and at the head of the group was none other than Sakura herself. "It wasn't my fault, I swear!" he yelled in desperation as he brought his hands up in a gesture of surrender. Even Naruto knew that fangirls could be very, **_**very**_**dangerous."Naruto..you are.." Sakura cracked her knuckles while looking at her soon-to-be teammate with a menacing glare. "..annoying!"**_

"_**EH.." Nauto didn't have time to say anything else as the fangirls started their merciless attack on the poor, defenceless blonde.**_

"_WAKE UP! IRUKA-SENSEI IS COMING!"_ Sakura yelled inside her mind, effectively startling Karin from her sleep. The class immediately quieted down as a man with a scar across his nose entered the room.

'**What was that?'** she asked mentally, waiting patiently for Sakura to reply as Iruka started saying something, looking at all the students sternly.

"_A memory of mine. That was the day we were put into our teams." _Sakura replied, sounding just a little bitter.

'**And why exactly are you showing me this? Is there some type of hidden message in there?'**

"_It's actually pretty obvious, you know. You saw how I acted towards Naruto, right?"._

'**Yes, you were a bi…t mean to him…'** Karin felt her cheeks heat up at her almost mistake. (1)

"_Nice save, and yes. I was outright horrible towards him, but __you__ are going to change that in this timeline. I want you to befriend Naruto – support him, don't fawn over Sasuke and make sure to give him some credit. And try and comfort him a bit when he fails today."_

'**He's gonna ****fail****?! Can't we help him or-'**

"_NO. I've already seen what happens. He does become a genin…somehow. I don't know how he graduated, he didn't tell anyone for some reason, but he does. This is also where he learns the shadow clone jutsu, if I'm right, and that jutsu is going to be very important in the future. You can't change what happens right now."_

'**But…'**

"_No buts. Whatever it is that's going to happen, it makes Naruto stronger and a bit more mature. We are not changing it."_

'**Fine, fine.'**

"_And remember– support him, __**don't**__ fawn over Sasuke and make __**sure **__to give him some credit. And try and comfort him. Don't forget that!"_

'**Okay, that's all on my to-do list now.'**

"_Good, because Iruka-sensei is handing out the written part of the exam right now."_

Karin waited patiently until a test was handed to her. All the tests had to remain face-down on the desk until Iruka told them to start. Karin also saw that there were pencils being handed out to each student. Karin took the pencil from her classmate, who had been asked to hand them out, with a smile.

'**I hope we pass.'** Karin started fiddling around with the pencil.

"_Why wouldn't we?"_ Sakura asked, sounding confident.

'**I didn't have any time to study for this test!'** Karin snapped. She wanted to freak out, but that wasn't an option. She wasn't prepared for this, not at all, but…she also wasn't prepared to wake up in a different body and a different time. If she wanted to change things and save people then she was going to have to pass this test, and she was determined to do just that. Suddenly the test didn't seem so terrible anymore.

"_This test is easy, trust me. The questions are very basic. You'll do fine."_

'**I know, I know. Genin exams are easy but I'm still nervous, okay!'**

"_I still remember most of these answers. I'll help you, just don't start freaking out." _Sakura told her calmly and Karin felt her confidence return to her.

Karin sat there, staring blankly at the paper in front of her. Iruka was walking back to the front of the class, probably to tell them the rules of the test and wish them luck.

"Each and every one of you has worked very hard this year." He smiled kindly at all the students. "I'm sure all of you know just how important this exam is. Now, this is only the written part and it makes about 60% of the exam, so it is possible to pass with only this part of the exam, but the practical part, which we'll be doing after everyone is finished writing, is also very important and it may be crucial that you learn to do it correctly right now. In the future you'll be using it a lot in battles and training, so it's important that you all pay attention and work hard on that.

The rules of this test are the same as always:

No eating or drinking during the test… sorry Choji.

No talking to anyone in the class at all. Kiba, Naruto, that goes especially for the two of you.

No cheating! If I even so much as suspect that someone is cheating I will take your paper and send you out of the class. You will then fail the exam immediately and be stuck in the academy for another year.

That's all. Now, you may begin. Good luck everyone."

Yup, just like she thought. Sticking to the teacher's routine.

Karin turned the paper over and picked up the pencil. It was so much like her genin exams, yet it was completely different as well. They had all been stuffed into that tiny room when they took the test. There was barely any space to move around in there. The teachers also didn't really care if their students decided to cheat or not – it was their choice and if they were so eager to go out to battle, let them.

"_Remember to write my name on the paper, not yours."_ Sakura reminded Karin. Karin carefully wrote the name before realizing she didn't know Sakura's last name. _"Haruno."_ Sakura told her again, reminding Karin that her head wasn't just her head anymore. Now she had to share it with someone. Karin wrote down the last name as well before tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear out of habit. She took a nice deep breath before starting to read over the questions. The questions seemed easy enough to answer, but she was going to have some trouble with a few of them.

"_Don't worry, I can answer all of this in my sleep…most of it…"_

'…**Right! Let's kill this test!'** Karin mentally cheered before reading the first question and waiting for Sakura to give her the answer. She wrote down the answers to each question with ease and found herself feeling confident. There were only a few questions that Sakura couldn't answer, but Karin jumped in with the small bit she remembered from her genin days and between the two of them they got all the questions answered.


	4. Chapter 3

**I don't own Naruto! At all! And sadly…I never will…*sigh***

"_Text" _- Sakura talking to Karin.

"Text" - People talking.

'**Text' **- Thoughts/Karin mentally talking to Sakura.

**This chapter is kind of short. I'm going to try and update more often, but with smaller chapters. Or do you guys, if anyone's actually reading this, want longer chapters? Please let me know what you think!**

**Reviews would be highly appreciated! **

_**Chapter 3**_

"_See? It was totally easy!"_ Sakura cheered as they handed in their paper. Karin smiled a bit as she handed her paper to Iruka, who returned her tiny smile with a kind one.

'**Okay, now all we need to do is get the practical part of this exam over with. Then we get our headbands and we get ready to change history!'**

"_Isn't it actually the future now? I mean, we __**did**__ go back in time." _

'**Pinkiiieeee! You ruined my speech!'** Karin whined. Sakura chuckled.

"_Well, we've pretty much already passed this test. Now, what did you say earlier about new clothes?"_ Sakura asked menacingly.

'**Uhh, that I'm going to buy new clothes?'** Karin asked weakly.

"_And why exactly is that necessary?"_

'**Well, because I need more moving space for training and as pretty as these dresses are, they just won't cut it, now will they?'**

"_Point taken. Fine you have my permission, I guess..."_

'**Don't sound so upset. And who said I needed your permission for this? I already told you, I'm doing this my way. '**

"_Fine, fine."_

'**You're sulking, aren't you?'**

"…_.."_

'**Fine, Pinkie. Be that way.'**

….

"Haruno Sakura, you're next."

Karin stood up and walked to the small room in which the practical examination was being held. She walked into the room calmly. She at least knew that she had this part covered.

She made her way to stand in front of Iruka and another man that she didn't recognise. H had white hair with a slight bluish tint and green eyes. He wore a bandanna with the Hidden Leaf Village symbol on it.

"_That's Mizuki-sensei. Naruto told me about him. The guy's a little whacked in the head, if you know what I mean. He tried to kill Naruto and Iruka-sensei twice! I'm not sure when it happened though."_

'**Finally talking to me again, huh? Welcome back!'** Karin kept her eyes on Mizuki, who smiled fakely at her. **'What's his problem? I don't think that whack is all there is to him. It's like he's hiding something else too.'**

"_Hey, don't ask me. I barely even now the guy. All I know is that Naruto told me he was insane and that Mizuki disliked both him and Iruka-sensei for some reason."_

'**Hmm…so basically what you're trying to say is: "He's a psyco, stay away from him and if need be, kick his ass all the way to Lightning Country." Anything else that I need to know?'**

"_Nah. Just pass this thing."_

'**No problem! Prepare to be amazed!'**

"_Yeah right, keep dreaming!"_

Karin smiled at Iruka, bluntly ignoring Mizuki. Iruka once again smiled at her. "Alright, Sakura-san. I'm simply going to ask you to perform some of the basic jutsus that you've learned this year. We'll start off with the substitution…"

Karin nodded before going through the handsigns, not that she really needed them but it would look rather suspicious if a genin didn't do the handsigns to execute the jutsu. Doing a jutsu without its handsigns required a lot of practice and sometimes took years to perfect.

Karin was pulled away, disappearing in a cloud of smoke and re-appearing behind Mizuki, but other than jumping slightly, Mizuki didn't show any reaction to her sudden and unexpected appearance behind him. Karin frowned lightly at the lack of reaction, feeling bummed that he didn't get scared.

"_Well, he is a chunin…"_ Sakura reminded her.

"Good job, Sakura-san." Iruka told her, still looking at the log that had appeared in her place. It was now lying on the floor. Karin smiled and walked back to her original spot. "Next is the…"

Karin grinned smugly as she walked out of the room with long, proud strides, brand new headband tied carefully on her head in a similar fashion to the ribbon she wore earlier. Ino was glaring at her, but Karin could see a quite bit of pride in her eyes as the blonde waited for her turn to come.

Karin walked swiftly out of the classroom, completely ignoring the other students and Ino, before stopping just a bit away from the door. _"What are you doing?"_ Sakura asked curiously.

'**Shh, I'm trying to focus!'** Karin scolded as she closed her eyes and focussed her chakra very carefully, willing it to spread around her and into the area of the classroom.

There was Naruto's chakra signature - bright like the sun, but with some sort of evil beneath the surface. Something terrifying and evil was hiding inside of him, something that made Karin want to run away and hide.

A little bit away from him was Ino. Her chakra was also bright, but nothing compared to Naruto's chakra. Her chakra seemed warmed and more… beautiful in a way. Layers of gentle yellow chakra coiled and twisted around one another with brighter 'buds' at the areas of her chakra points, like the vines that crawled up against the wall and carefully waited for the right time to open its flowers.

There was Iruka-sensei's chakra – calm and controlled, but not stiff or uneasy. His chakra looked like water that flowed steadily through his chakra system in small streams, but Karin had a slight idea that those streams could become bigger and much more powerful if the situation called for it. All in all, it described him very well. Calm and kind, but not defenceless.

And there was her actual target – Mizuki. Karin noted that his chakra looked like rust. It looked like small grains of dark sand sailing awkwardly through his body. It seemed like his chakra was once shining metal, but it slowly withered away into that disgusting rust that was now visible to her. Karin knew better than anyone that chakra also represented the state of a person's heart and mind. Maybe Mizukis personality had also been like polished metal, maybe his mind was as sharp as the very shuriken that was strapped to his back, but it was infected by something sinister that made all of that crumble and waste away until almost nothing but anger and hatred was left.

Karin pulled her chakra back, not wanting to further look at people's chakra. She would have plenty of time for that later. For now, however, she had to go shopping for some proper clothes.


	5. Chapter 4

**I don't own Naruto! At all! And sadly…I never will…*sigh***

"_Text" _- Sakura talking to Karin.

"Text" - People talking.

'**Text' **- Thoughts/Karin mentally talking to Sakura.

**Yes, it IS very short, butI'm sticking to the shorter chapters for now. If you want longer chapters, please let me know! Reviews would be highly appreciated! **

_**Chapter 4**_

Karin spun around in front of the mirror a few times, smiling at the new outfit she bought. Her new outfit was extremely comfortable and it even looked pretty nice. It was a simple outfit – no fancy trinkets or designs. It also allowed maximum movability. She was wearing black ski pants that were tucked into her knee-high ninja boots. Over that she wore white short shorts with white bandages and a black shuriken holster on her right thigh. Her kunai pouch was tied securely around her waist along with a medical pouch filled with pills, poisons and antidotes. Her shirt was a loose, sleeveless crimson shirt that almost completely covered her white shorts. It had two pockets in the front. Her left bicep was bandaged carefully and she wore fingerless black gloves with metal plates over the knuckles.

Karin tied her pink hair up into a tight ponytail so it would be out of the way, leaving only a few strands of pink hair to frame her face. "Finally! Time for some training!" she cheered with a bright smile as she rushed out of her room and zipped down the stairs. Once she was outside she slowed her pace. The sun was close to setting, painting the sky with an array of golds and oranges. She walked through the village at a leisurely pace, already knowing the way to training area seven by heart. Sometimes having Sakura's memories was very useful. The sweet scent of flowers and freshly baked bread hung in the air as Karin passed the bakery. The old man gave her a kind smile as her flipped the sign on the door to indicate that the shop was closed for the day. Karin smiled back warmly at the old man and continued to make her way to the training grounds.

"Alright, let's just start with a few basic warm-up exercises. After that we'll start with taijutsu and maybe a bit of ninjutsu if we get the time for it." Sakura spoke from the back of her mind. Karin simply shrugged and started doing a few basic stretches to loosen up her muscles. After she finished with all the stretches she moved on to sit-ups and push-ups. "Let's begin." Sakura spoke up, interrupting her push-ups. "Five laps around the clearing. Go!"

Karin broke into a sprint and slowly increased her speed until she was running as fast as her small legs would allow her. The clearing was rather big, but she was pretty sure that five laps wouldn't be too harsh. Her muscles were tingling, but not burning like they usually would. There was just a dull throb that could be easily ignored. After she finished her five laps she was instructed to work on her kicks and punches. She hadn't gotten a chance to let off some steam, so Karin happily obliged and pummelled the trees in the clearing. Suddenly being thrown into someone else's body was quite frustrating and taking all her frustration out on the poor trees felt great.

Karin pumped a small, constant stream of chakra into arms and fists as she continued to punch the large tree in front of her. The chakra served to help alleviate any pain in her arms and also strengthened the muscles. Sakura was explaining how to use the chakra-enhanced strength that Tsunade had taught her. It sounded rather simple to Karin. It required very precise chakra control and perfect timing. A person had to release the chakra at the exact time that their fist came into contact with the target.

Karin carefully focussed her chakra into her right hand and aimed a punch at the tree. She expelled the chakra just like Sakura had told her to, but did it a few seconds too soon which resulted in most of the chakra being lost. Her hand made contact with the rough bark, leaving a small crater. She pulled her fist back to survey the damage. The crater was about twice the size of her fist. Not very impressive in her opinion.

She focussed the chakra into her hand again and aimed another punch at the tree, this time expelling her chakra just a little bit too late. The result was a large crack in the tree bark. Karin glared at the tree.

"Glaring won't help you any! If you want to get it right, work on the timing. Keep practicing." Sakura told her sternly. Karin sighed heavily in frustration and clenched her fists tightly but nodded anyway. She wasn't about to get beaten by a stinking tree! She focussed her chakra into her hand and threw another punch at the tree with the same results as last time. She growled a bit and repeated the process with the same results. Patience was NOT one of her virtues.


	6. Chapter 5

**I don't own Naruto! At all! And sadly…I never will…*sigh***

"_Text" _- Sakura talking to Karin.

"Text" - People talking.

'**Text' **- Thoughts/Karin mentally talking to Sakura.

**There seems to be a real lack of interest in this story, so I might need to delete it or put it on halt. I'm sticking to the shorter chapters, but if you want longer chapters then you should let me know. Reviews would be highly appreciated! **

_**Chapter 5**_

Karin sighed tiredly as she climbed onto the soft bed and crept under the covers. Her body ached all over, especially her fists, which were now bruised. She had decided to remove her gloves during training, but she now regretted it as she stared at her purple knuckles. She still hadn't managed to get it right – she wanted to perfect those chakra-filled punches, but her timing was never right. She sighed as she turned over onto her stomach. Tomorrow she would have to work on her chakra control. After all, that was the root of the problem. She was in a different body with different chakra and she wasn't completely used to it yet. At least she could still use her Mind's Eye of the Kagura, but she had noticed it took a lot more effort on her part. The rosette's body was still new and strange to her and the girl's chakra was mixing around with her own. It was an uncomfortable situation and she would need some time to adjust to all the sudden changes.

Karin absentmindedly wondered if she could still use all of her old justsus. Her chakra reserves were rather pathetic right now and she would never be able to accomplish anything with such little chakra at her disposal. She would need to do some exercises to expand her chakra reserves. And she already had a few exercises in mind.

… … … …

Karin lazily cracked an eye open and stared at the light-pink ceiling. Her pink air was splayed messily around her shoulders. She let out a content sigh. It was a Saturday. She had the entire day to herself. The sun was just beginning to rise as she hopped out of her bed, her small feet making a dull 'thud' against the wooden floor. She quickly grabbed a few items of clothes from her closet and got dressed, feeling grateful that she took a shower the previous night, after her training. She was dressed in an almost identical copy of the previous day's outfit, the only difference being the shirt, which was baby-blue instead of red. She didn't want a closet filled with nothing but red – that would be boring. She quickly braided her bubblegum pink hair and tied it with a dark blue ribbon. Once she was satisfied with her appearance she went to brush her teeth and wash her face.

Karin smiled as she exited the house. The sun was shining brightly and there were only a few clouds in the sky. She immediately decided that she was going to take the long way to the training grounds. A cold breeze rustled the leaves of the trees and sent pleasant shivers down her spine. There were birds singing in the trees, filling the air with pleasant tunes. The streets were already filled with people heading to work.

Karin sighed as she strolled through the streets, enjoying the fresh smell of flowers that hung in the air. Every now and then she would have to weave her way around people, but most of the time that wasn't even necessary. The street was filled with people, but it wasn't crowded.

The training grounds were once again completely empty, much to Karin's delight. She didn't feel like searching for a new spot to train.

"_So, what's on the agenda for today?"_

'**Chakra control. I need to get used to your body and your chakra.'**

"_I see. Well, what did you have in mind?"_

'**Just a few basic chakra control exercises, nothing too difficult. I want to get used to your chakra gradually. I don't know what might happen if I suddenly tried to use an actual justu and, to be completely honest, I don't really want to find out.'**

"_Hmm…okay. I see what you mean - there's a chance you might hurt yourself if you tried to do a justu."_

'**Exactly.'**

Karin sat down on the grass. She picked a blade of grass and lied down flat on her back as she placed the blade of grass on her forehead.

"_Is this similar to the leaf balancing exercise?"_

'**Sort of. It's just a lot harder since a leaf is bigger than a blade of grass.'**

Karin closed her eyes as she allowed some chakra to flow to her large forehead. The blade of grass shook, just barely, as she pushed a small bit of chakra into it. Karin made sure to keep her breathing steady and her muscles relaxed as she focussed on her chakra. The blade of grass moved slightly so it levitated about two millimetres above her forehead.

Chakra control on such a tiny object was very difficult. Push in too much chakra and the grass might burn and turn to ashes since it's too small to handle all the chakra, but push in too little and it will have no effect other than slowly wasting your chakra. It brought back memories of her old life back in hidden grass. Of the first time she'd ever attempted this exercise.

Most genin at their age would have been busy with tree-climbing or even water-walking, but her sensei always said that it was better to start with the smallest stuff and slowly work your way up to the biggest. Grass balancing was the smallest of the small, yet it was still rather hard to master. With tree-climbing and water-walking there was a larger surface area to work with, but with something as small as a single blade of grass it was much more difficult. The amount of chakra used was far less than the other exercises, but the control had to be far more precise.

Her team had spent days trying to master this exercise, but to no avail. Karin remembered how happy she had been when she was the first to complete the exercise. Both of her male teammates had, for the very first and very last time, looked at her with envy.

They had always looked down on her and often told her how useless she was, but she never believed them until she was attacked by that bear in the chunin exams. That had been a real eye-opener for her. It had been the first time in her entire life that she had felt completely helpless. It was something she never wanted to feel again in her entire life.


	7. Chapter 6

**I don't own Naruto! At all! And sadly…I never will…*sigh***

"_Text" _- Sakura talking to Karin.

"Text" - People talking.

'**Text' **- Thoughts/Karin mentally talking to Sakura.

**Still sticking to short chapters. Please let me know if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes. Reviews would be highly appreciated! **

_**Chapter 6**_

Karin sighed as she rolled onto her other side. She was wrapped snugly in the pink covers of her bed. "Sakura! Time to get up, honey!" Sakura's mother called from downstairs. Karin groaned and forced her body to sit up with difficulty. In spite of the fact that she had gone to sleep early she was still tired. "Sakura!" Karin heard the woman call to her again. She groaned again. "I'm up!" she yelled back as she stretched her arms, wincing as pain shot up both arms and into her shoulders. She reluctantly stood up and dragged herself to the bathroom, nearly flinching when her feet came into contact with the cold floor tiles. Every part of her body was aching from a whole weekend of intense training. After brushing her teeth she decided that a quick shower wouldn't hurt anyone. After collecting the necessary items of clothing, she undressed and hopped into the shower.

After finishing her shower she dressed quickly and braided her wet hair neatly, tying it with a crimson ribbon. Today she was wearing loose black pants that ended just below her knees and a yellow sleeveless shirt with a hood. She wrapped some bandages around her right thigh before attaching her shuriken holster over them, kunai pouch and medical pouch already tied to her waist.

She made her way to the kitchen where Sakura's mother was busy making breakfast. She took a seat at the table. "Morning, Sweetie," her mother smiled as she placed a plate in front of her daughter. Karin wasted no time and immediately dug in. The first bite had her savouring the absolutely amazing taste of the omelette, but she scarfed the rest down quickly. Not even two minutes later the plate was completely empty.

"_You eat like a pig! Have some manners, will you?" _ Sakura scolded.

'**Sorry, sorry! But your mom's cooking is amazing!' **

"_I know,"_ Sakura replied.

"Did you like it?" Mrs Haruno asked, pulling Karin out of her mental discussion with the pinkette, as she grabbed Sakura's empty plate and put it in the sink. Karin smiled at her. "It was absolutely delicious, thanks…Mom," she replied, trying not to stutter the last word. Mrs Haruno simply smiled. "Good. Now then, off you go. We wouldn't want you to be late, now would we?" she asked. Karin hopped out of the chair. "No, probably not," she replied. Sakura quickly made her way to the front door of their house and slipped on the ankle high black ninja shoes she had placed there the night before. She darted out of the house, heading in the direction of the academy. A head of blonde hair caught her attention. Karin slowed her pace a bit until she was walking.

Ino smiled while watering the flowers on the stands outside of the Yamanaka flower shop. She turned to face the pinkette. Karin smiled and gave a small wave in Ino's direction. "Good morning, Ino" Karin greeted the blonde cheerfully. A look of shock passed on the blonde's face before it was replaced with a tiny smile. "Good…good morning to you too, Sakura," she said quietly, hesitating a bit before entering the shop again. Karin stared after the girl. It had looked like Ino had wanted to say something else…

"_Get a move on. We'll be late,"_ Sakura reminded her. Karin started walking again. **'I know, but I **_**am**_** trying to repare the broken friendship between the two of you.' **she replied. Sakura gave no answer.

Karin was rather bummed out when she reached class and realised that she and the Uchiha were there the only ones there. Sasuke was mentally preparing himself for the flirting and screeching he usually had to put up with from the pink-haired girl. An image flickred in her mind. Karin's eyes glazed over as another one of Sakura's memories took hold of her.

"_Let Sasuke-kun go! He's mine, Ino-pig!" Sakura glared murderously at the long-haired blonde clinging to Sasuke's arm. "Oh please, Sasuke obviously likes me more than you and your billboard-brow," Ino said smugly, tightening her grip around the last surviving Uchiha's arm. Sakura snorted and placed her hands on her hips. "Like Sasuke-kun would ever like a pig!" she declared, mentally cheering when she saw Ino's smug smile drop from her face only to be replaced by a scowl. _

_Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes, irritated by the two's bickering. "See that, Ino-pig? Youre annoying him!" Sakura exclaimed triumphantly. Ino scoffed. "The only thing that's annoying him is your huge forehead!"_

Karin came out of her daze. That had to be one of the most disturbing things she'd ever seen. The girls in grass didn't fight over a boy like that, mostly because none of the boys there were worth fighting over. Had Ino and Sakura really been best friends before their rivalry started? It didn't sound like it at all. And what ever happened to friendly competition? The girls looked like they were ready to tear each other apart. Karin made no effort to hide the look of disgust on her face.

"_Oh? And you never fawned over him or glared at other girls for making goo-goo eyes at him? Yeah right. You were just as bad as we were,"_ Sakura told her, making Karin groan. **'Whatever, Pinkie,'** she replied, unable to think of any other comeback.

Karin looked around the small classroom, searching for a suitable spot to sit. She sat somewhere near the middle, still a good distance from the brooding raven. She leaned her head on the palms of her hands and closed her eyes. Sasuke turned to look at the girl. She wasn't going to attack him? He shrugged slightly before turning back to face the front. As long as she stayed away from him, it didn't matter. She was unimportant to him. Only one thing mattered to him – revenge.

Karin let out a breath she hadn't even known she was holding as Sasuke's eyes turned away from her and the prickling feeling on her face suddenly disappeared. A shiver shot down her spine.

"_What's the plan for this afternoon?"_ Sakura asked, trying to take the readhead's mind off the avenger. _"You've been improving, but it's still not good enough. We you need to work harder."_

'**I know and I'm trying, but that Herculean Power Punch isn't exactly the easiest thing to master,'** Karin reminded her. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"_You were a medical ninja, that means your chakra control has to be good,"_ Sakura stated.

'**Good, not perfect like yours.' **Karin retorted. She was getting closer to perfecting it, she could feel it, but she would still need a lot of practice. **'How the hell did Tsunade even create that technique?'**

"_By utilizing her perfect chakra control that she earned from years of being a medic nin. That's why I can't understand why you're having so much trouble with the move."_ Sakura told her.

'**Maybe…it has to do with the whole 'in a new body' thing,'** Karin offered.

"_Yet you've already perfected that chakra control exercise with the grass,"_ Sakura muttered.

'**Yes, that's why I can't understand why I can't get it right.'**

"_At least we know you're capable of using jutsu."_

'**Just one and it's not even offensive. Just a defensive D-rank jutsu. Not much I can do with that.'** Karin thought darkly.

"_Hey! I taught you that jutsu for a reason and not all battles are going to rely on offense. You need to be prepared! And besides, our chakra reserves aren't big enough for anything other than D-rank. Maybe, and that's a very big maybe, there are a few C-ranks we could pull off, but that would require a lot of training,"_ Sakura told her.

'**Yes, a lot of training. Because it's not like I've been doing anything in the past few days,'** Karin thought sarcastically. Sakura huffed_. "No, the training would become even harsher. Your body has to build up chakra, so that would mean a whole bunch of chakra control exercises. And your physical training would have to be upped as well so you don't fall behind on your taijutsu training."_

'_Urgh. Fine, we'll stick to D-rank jutsus…for now.'_

"Good. How are you coming along with healing?"

'**I can make bruises fade, but that's about it. I couldn't even get the ones on my knuckles to disappear completely and I don't really want to try healing something like an open wound just yet. I might mess it up.'** Karin said as she brought her knuckles into view. The ugly purple had been replaced by a very light yellowish colour.

"Not too bad – you can barely even see it, but we'll have to work on this as well. We'll start with…scrapes and some more bruises."

Karin sighed dramatically. There was a long afternoon in store for her, she was sure of it.

**Well, there you go. Now, I already have the next chapter ready and I'll update it as soon as I get 5 new reviews, so if you liked it review! If you hated it, tell me! If you have any questions or comments, don't be shy. Ask away!**


	8. Chapter 7

**I don't own Naruto! At all! And sadly…I never will…*sigh***

"_Text" _- Sakura talking to Karin.

"Text" - People talking.

'**Text' **- Thoughts/Karin mentally talking to Sakura.

I forgot to do this in the previous chapter, so here it is people!

Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan, thank you so much for amazing review! I'm really happy if you think this story is original. I've read a lot of those cliché stories too and I just wondered what this type of idea would be like. I'll do my best to keep you happy with the story.

Arcross, thank you so much for leaving the most beautiful review I've ever read! And, your review was indeed the fifth one, so as promised - the new chapter is out early. Thank you for your support! And, as I've said in earlier chapters, the readers have to tell me whether they want longer or shorter chapters. So dnt be afraid to tell me, ne!

**Still sticking to short chapters, but that would change if you guys wanted it to. Please let me know if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes. Reviews would be highly appreciated! **

_**Chapter 7**_

Karin tapped her fingers impatiently on the wooden desk as she waited for class to start. She wasn't really too fond of waiting. _'Wait 'til you meat Kakashi,'_ Sakura had told her. At least she wasn't all alone with Sasuke anymore. To say that it was awkward was the understatement of the year. But now there were a few unfamiliar voices in the classroom, completely erasing all the tension. Karin busied herself by talking with Sakura or listening to bits and pieces of the other kids' conversations. None of them really had anything interesting to say, just talking about their weekends. Some of them were worried about which team and sensei they would be receiving today. Karin didn't look at anyone, nor did she speak with anyone. She wanted to be left alone. Unfortunately for her, she wouldn't be getting her wish.

"The number one ninja has arrived! Naruto Uzumaki is here!" a loud, obnoxious voice called out from behind her. Karin cringed at the volume of the exclamation.

"_That's Naruto for you – just doesn't know how to be quiet,"_ Sakura sweatdropped and Karin groaned in her head.

'**You said he's on my team along with the Uchiha?'** Karin asked as Naruto started talking with a guy with a spiky ponytail. Shikamaru, if she remembered correctly from all the flashbacks and memories.

"_Yip! You have to deal with him every day from here on out,"_ the pinkette replied cheerfully, causing Karin to curse under her breath.

Soon she heard footsteps heading in her direction and turned to see who it was. Naturally, no one but the blonde ball of energy himself was making his way towards her with a nervous smile on his face. Naruto seemed to radiate warmth as he came closer. It reminded Karin so much of a warm campfire. Or, if he was being particularly annoying, it could be like the sun – too bright, too warm and sometimes it wakes you up when would rather have slept. Today he was a bit of both. Not too warm, but far too annoying for his own good around the tired kunoichi. Sakura warned her not to try the Herculean Power Punch on him, no matter how annoying he was. Karin just agreed. She wasn't too sure if she would be able to keep the promise, but she would try her best. Besides, she didn't have the stupid Power Punch down yet… and Sakura said nothing about a normal punch.

"H-hey Sakura-chan!" he greeted nervously as he came to a halt by her table. After the not-so-pleasant flashback she had seen of this day, she didn't feel like being mean to the poor blonde. Karin felt a bit of pride swell in her chest when she saw the leaf village headband on his forehead. So Sakura had been right after all – he did make it through on his own. "Morning, Naruto," she reeted back, hoping the boy would stop being so nervous around her.

"_Baka, he has a crush on you…me…us….oh, you know what I mean,"_ Sakura told her. Karin felt a whole new level of disgust rise in her. He could _not_ have a crush on her! She was Karin Uzumaki from the Uzumaki clan! And he was Naruto Uzumaki and she had no doubt in her that one of his parent or grandparents had been from the Uzumaki clan! It was gross! What if they were cousins or something?** 'OH GROSS, INCEST!'** Karin thought, becoming pale.

"_You're not Karin Uzumaki anymore, remember? You're Sakura Haruno now, so stop freaking out about nothing!"_ Sakura yelled at her mentally.

'**No! Even if I'm in your body, I'm still myself! I am and will always be Karin Uzumaki and that means that this is still a completely gross idea! '** Karin snapped.

"Um, Sakura-chan, could I maybe-"

"Sit next to me?" Karin cut him off. "Go ahead." She said, gesturing to the empty seat beside her. Naruto grinned brightly at her before carefully walking around her and sitting in the seat. He turned to her. "So, Sakura-chan, uhh how was your weekend?" Naruto asked, trying to start a conversation with the rosette. Karin tilted her head from side to side in thought, letting the bangs that framed her face brush her cheeks. "It was good. Not very interesting, though. I'm just a bit tired today…which also makes me a bit irritable," she responded after a few moments, unaware that Naruto had been staring at her pink locks as they gently bounced with each tilt of her head.

Naruto wasn't really sure when he had come to have a crush on Sakura or even why, but he just did. There was something about Sakura. Maybe it was her hair, which he thought seemed more like a very light red instead of pink. Or maybe it was her personality – quick temper, kind. He wasn't sure. He just knew it all reminded him of someone. *1

"How was your weekend, Naruto-kun?" Karin asked, feeling a bit more relaxed. Naruto was…odd, but harmless. She couldn't find it in herself to be rude to him. "It was really cool! Iruka-sensei took me out to get some ramen at Ichiraku's and then HE paid for it! And the ramen was really good, especially the pork ramen, but the miso is still my favourite! And…"

'**He likes to talk a lot, doesn't he?'**

"_Yeah. It can get on my nerves sometimes, but I would never want him to change. Not even one bit. Naruto is one of the most…genuine people I've ever met. He's honest and determined and even though I never got the chance to tell him, I think he's a skilled shinobi… so you better be good to him!"_ Sakura ordered. Karin just smiled as the boy babbled on about many useless things.

"SASUKE-KUN! CAN I SIT NEXT TO YOU?" a girl called. Karin, who had turned in her seat so she could face Naruto, turned to see what was going on. A bunch of girls, including a pretty platinum blonde, were fighting over who got to sit next to the Uchiha. All the girls were using sickeningly sweet voices and throwing 'cute' looks at the raven, who acted as though they didn't exist.

Behind her Naruto grit his teeth. 'Stupid Sasuke, stealing her attention away from me.'What was so great about the Uchiha that made girls flock to him? He just sat there quietly and glared at random objects or people. Naruto didn't understand what was so amazing about that. What did Sakura even see in him?

Before Karin could blink, Naruto had gone over to the Uchiha and jumped onto his desk, crouching in front of the boy with their faces only a few centimetres apart**. 'Oh boy. And here I thought we could skip this episode,'** Karin thought bitterly.

"NARUTO! GET AWAY FROM SASUKE-KUN!" Ino yelled at him, but he didn't pay any attention. He didn't care about Ino. Naruto glared at the raven. "Move it!" he told the other boy, but said boy gave no reaction other than returning Naruto's fierce glare with a cold one. "KICK HIS ASS, SASUKE-KUN!" a few of the Uchiha's fangirls cheered, the loudest of them all being Ino.

Karin sighed as she saw the boy in front of the two lean backwards o he could rest his arm on Sasuke's table. _"Aren't you going to save them from the embarrassment or something? Or at least help Naruto?"_ Sakura asked Karin as they watched the familiar scene unfold before them.

'**Naaaaah. He survived it the first time, I'm sure he'll survive it this time,'** Karin replied lazily as she watched them with an amused smile. **'Consider this revenge for what Sasuke did to me,'** Karin thought as she stood up to get a better look at what was happening.

"_Are you seriously still not over that?"_ Sakura asked a bit irritated.

'**No, no I'm not.'**

The boy leaned to far back and bumped Naruto. Poor Naruto gave a cry of shock as he started falling forward. The boy quickly turned around and apologised only to find Naruto and Sasuke in a lip-lock. Karin bit down on her lip to keep herself from bursting out laughing at the look on Sasuke's face when he pulled away from Naruto. Revenge was sweet.

"Naruto, you moron, I'm going to kill you!"

"YUCK! MY MOUTH IS ROTTING!"

There was a dead silence in the classroom. No one dared to move for fear of being attacked by the angry angirls. Naruto turned to face them. They had waves of anger practically rolling off of them. Ino cracked her knuckles as she glared menacingly at the idiot. "Naruto…I hope you understand what this means…" she said evilly. "Uhh…"

"Hey, Naruto!" Karin called in an attempt to save the poor soul from the angry girls. "Come here!" she ordered and Naruto wasted no time in trying to do as he was told. He knew that Sakura was probably angry at him, very angry at him, but he didn't want to make it any worse so he just did as he was told. Before he could take two steps though, there was a small bunch of fangirls blocking the way. "Don't think we'll let you escape so easily!" they yelled and started closing in on him.

"_Aren't you going to do something NOW?!"_ Sakura screeched as she watched the girls close in on the defenceless blonde. Sure she helped beat him up the first time, but she didn't want to see poor Naruto get beat up for something so stupid again.

'**I tried. It obviously didn't work.'**

"_Karin…"_ Sakura warned, voice dangerously low.

'**Calm down, Pinkie. He'll be alright. He survived it when YOU were leading the attack so I think he'll be fine now as well,'** Karin smiled as she sat back down in her chair.

And so began the fangirls's vicious assault.

... ... ...

*1 - Can anyone guess who those features remind him of?


End file.
